Fresh Perspectives
Vice President, Design Strategy
Terri Ducay is a leader in the search to find common ground between design and technology. Her commitment has led her to create new and better ways for companies to bring technology into the lives of people all over the world.
See Terri's photoblog entries ...
3 April 2007
Like most people, I never seem to have enough time to read. But when I received renewal subscriptions to the New York Times and The Economist, I didn’t hesitate to sign up. While the integrity of the information and the quality of the writing and reporting is at the core of what interests me, what is valuable is the manner in which the information is designed and visualized, enabling me to easily absorb and understand it.
I especially find that design and visualization does not just make things easier to access - it actually heightens my level of understanding. News, information and ideas become visceral and thus more powerful. So what I am buying is not only the information but the experience of that information as well.
Here is what I love:
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Terri Ducay, 0 comments
20 February 2007
Today, February 18, 2007 is the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year. It is reported that as many as 1.3 billion people in China will usher in the Year of the Boar. As a consequence millions of migrate workers who work in the major cities will travel back to their rural hometown for a week of holiday. Some have described this as one of the world’s biggest human migrations. It is also estimated that nearly 14 billion text messages will be sent during this time.
This is not only the Year of the Boar, but 2007 is the year of the ‘golden boar’ which only happens once every 600 years. It is considered one of the most prosperous and favorable years in the Chinese zodiac. No doubt this will bring a boom in babies born as those who are born this year are said to have the luck to become very wealthy.
Posted in
China Markets
by Terri Ducay, 0 comments
20 February 2007
1. In which country is kissing in public a new phenomenon?
a) Brazil b) China c) Finland
2. In which country is the equivalent to Valentine’s Day called Couple’s Day?
a) Mexico b) Brazil c) Japan
3. In which country does Valentine’s begin with women purchasing chocolate for the men in their lives?
a) Japan b) Russia c) Germany
4. Where can the biggest valentine be found?
a) USA b) China c) Mars
5. Which country expresses its admiration for women on March 8th – International Women’s Day?
a) USA b) Madagascar c) Russia
Answers: 1. B China, 2. B Brazil , 3. A Japan, 4. C Mars , 5. C Russia
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Posted in
Meaningful Experience
by Terri Ducay, 0 comments
24 January 2006
An Associated Press release that came out today was titled: Jobs to Become Major Hollywood Player.
I would argue that well before Disney/Pixar was a done deal that Steve Jobs was already a major Hollywood player.
After all, he singled handedly changed the music buying paradigm with the introduction of the Apple iPod and iTunes online music store. He went on to make a business out of video downloading and was also the man behind podcasting, which has basically been a revolutionary force, allowing anyone to produce and distribute content to a very large audience for almost nothing.
Not to mention setting the standard for animation at Pixar, credited with creating the first fully computer animated movies. And making great entertainment and hundreds of millions of dollars at the same time.
Does this not make Steve a major Hollywood player even without being on Disney’s board?
What is more accurate to say is that Steve is a major Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Global player. He is the only person brilliant enough to have successfully blurred the line between software and hardware, creating products that are not only technically solid and easy to use, they are fun and stylish.
Steve, you’re my man.
Posted in
Consumer Technology
by Terri Ducay
22 January 2006
In preparation for a trip to Beijing, I bought a travel guide book by DK Publishing – Eyewitness Travel Guides.
I am a huge fan of DK publishing. They were the first publisher to design a format that is highly visually and informative, a ratio of images to words that is roughly 80% to 20%. The images, both photos and illustrations, give a huge amount of information in an elegant and easy-to-use design.
DK’s design objective is to “provide information in an attractive and easy to reach form.” It aims to inform, excite and inspire. Oh, and did I mention their books are fun to use? They accomplish all this by employing a few tricks of knowledge visualization.
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Terri Ducay, 0 comments
22 January 2006
The Wonderful World of Disney was a staple of my TV childhood, as most of my baby boomer friends will attest to. Every Sunday I would camp out on the living room floor a half hour or more before the show started and wait eagerly for Tinkerbelle to appear on screen, a signal that the show was about to begin. Little did I know the future impact of this show and Walt Disney’s genius would have on me.
Fantasia, which brilliantly used the music of Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, led to my love for classical music. The incredible animation in Cinderella and Bambi gave me an appreciation of art and design which led me to Cranbrook, where I completed a master’s degree in design. Disney’s use of technology to create vivid works of imagination made me see the power of technology and engineering, and once I fell in love with it, I moved to the Silicon Valley.
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Posted in
Meaningful Experience
by Terri Ducay, 0 comments
18 December 2005
While scanning a Slashdot New Technology online news listing, I found a story entitled Journey Towards the Center of the Earth. Visions of Jules Verne popped into my head. It turns out that there is a Japanese-led deep-sea drilling project to begin in 2007 called Chikyu, which means ‘Earth’ in Japanese.
Chikyu the project is an attempt to collect the first samples of the Earth’s mantle. It seeks clues on primitive organisms and will use information gathered to help detect earthquakes.
If the story was not interesting enough, what surprised me for a scientific/academic article was the simple yet informative way the article explained the mechanics of the drilling vessel. A PDF containing the story used visualization to communicate complex information in a user-friendly way.
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Terri Ducay
16 June 2005
I‘m in the market to buy a new car … but like many, I'm not just interested in its performance or its looks. If I were sitting on a psychologist's couch, she'd say I was looking to add new meaning to my life. I'd describe it as wanting to make a change and have some fun. None of the dozen's of car review magazines and web sites include this in their list of ratings, so I had to do my own research.
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Posted in
Meaningful Experience
by Terri Ducay
8 June 2005
It is professionally gratifying to know that this is the "Decade of Design." I just returned from the Design Management Institute (DMI) Brand Design Conference, where speakers like Bruce Nussbaum, Editorial Page Editor of Business Week, describes designers as being the new consulting gurus of the 21st century. When companies like Procter & Gamble and General Electric, call on designers to take the lead in transforming their companies, this signifies a big shift in how corporate America is beginning to think. Good bye Six Sigma, hello Designer.
Why the shift? Why are design conversations taking place in CEO offices? Well, there are several reasons given by Nussbaum:
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Terri Ducay
8 April 2004
What is Julia Child’s favorite taco stand? It’s La Superica located in Santa Barbara.This 1950’s style wooden shack turns out my favorite Mexican fast food. None of the dishes are familiar but all are terrific.
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by Terri Ducay
2 April 2004
In the small town of Soledad, CA, there is a wonderful bakery called La Plaza. It's full of decadent delights. There is sugar, powdered sugar, coconut, chocolate, pastry cream, glaze, and every flavor of jelly known to man.
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Posted in
by Terri Ducay
22 March 2004
Having just returned from the Art Center Design Conference, Bruce Mau has reinforced my belief that designers are brilliant at problem solving complex issues.
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Terri Ducay, 1 comments
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